Once upon a time there was a tailor who had three sons and only one goat. But the goat, because it fed all of them together with its milk, had to have its good feed and had to be taken out to pasture every day. The sons also did this in turn. Once the eldest took it to the churchyard, where the most beautiful herbs stood, let it eat there and jump around. In the evening, when it was time to go home, he asked, "Goat, are you full?" The goat answered:
"I am so full,
I don't like a leaf: meh! meh!"

"So come home," said the boy, taking her by the rope, leading her into the stable and tying her up. "Well," said the old tailor, "does the goat have her proper food?" "O," answered the son, "she is so full, she does not like a leaf." But the father, wanting to see for himself, went down to the stable, stroked the dear animal, and asked, "Goat, are you full too?" The goat answered:

"What should I be full of?
I just jumped over little ditches,
and found not a single leaf: meh! meh!

"What must I hear!" cried the tailor, and ran up and said to the boy, "ei, thou liar, saying the goat was full, and didst let it starve?" And in his anger he took the cubit from the wall and chased him out with blows.
The next day it was the turn of the second son, who looked for a place at the garden hedge where there were all good herbs, and the goat ate them all. In the evening, when he wanted to go home, he asked: "Goat, are you full?" The goat answered:

"I'm so full,
I don't like a leaf: meh! meh!"

"So come home," said the boy, pulling her home and tying her in the stable. "Well," said the old tailor, "does the goat have her proper food?" "O," answered the son, "she is so full, she does not like a leaf." The tailor would not rely on this, and went down to the stable and asked, "Goat, are you also full?" The goat answered:

"What should I be full of?
I just jumped over little ditches,
and found not a single leaf: meh! meh!"

"The godless wicked one!" cried the tailor, "to let such a pious animal starve," ran up, and with his cubit struck the boy out at the front door.
The turn now came to the third son, who wanted to do his job well, chose bushes with the most beautiful foliage, and let the goat eat on it. In the evening, when he wanted to go home, he asked: "Goat, are you also full? The goat answered:

"I'm so full,
I don't like a leaf: meh! meh!"

"So come home," said the boy, leading her into the stable and tying her up. "Now," said the old tailor, "has the goat her proper feed?" "O," answered the son, "she is so full, she does not like a leaf." Not trusting this, the tailor went down and asked, "Goat, are you full too?" The mischievous animal answered:

"What should I be full of?
I just jumped over little ditches,
and found not a single leaf: meh! meh!"

"O the brood of lies!" cried the tailor, "one as godless and oblivious of duty as the other! You shall have me for a fool no longer!" And being beside himself with rage, he jumped up and spanked the back of one of the boys so violently with his cubit that he jumped out of the house.
The old tailor was now alone with his goat. The next morning he went down to the stable, caressed the goat and said: "Come, my dear little animal, I will lead you to pasture myself. He took her by the rope and brought her to green hedges and sheep rips and what else the goats like to eat. "There you can eat to your heart's content," he said to her, and let her graze until evening. Then he asked, "Goat, are you full?" She answered:

"I'm so full,
I don't like a leaf: meh! meh!"

"So come home," said the tailor, and led her into the stable and tied her up. As he left, he turned back once more, saying, "now you are full for once!" But the goat made no difference to the days before and called:

"How can I be full?
I just jumped over little ditches,
and found not a single leaf: meh! meh!"

When the tailor heard this, he was astonished and saw that he had rejected his three sons without cause. "Wait," he cried, "you ungrateful creature, chasing you away is still too little. I will draw thee that thou mayest not be seen among respectable tailors." In a rush he sprang up, fetched his beard knife, soaped the goat's head, and shaved it as smoothly as his flat hand. And because the cubit would have been too good for it, he fetched the whip and dealt it such blows that it ran away in mighty leaps.

The tailor, sitting all alone in his house, fell into great sadness and would have liked to have his sons back. But no one knew where they had gone. The eldest had been apprenticed to a carpenter. There he learned diligently and undauntedly. And when his time was over, so that he should wander, the master gave him a little table, which had no special reputation, and was of ordinary wood. But it had one good feature. When one put it down and said, "Set the table," the good table was suddenly covered with a clean cloth, and then there stood a plate and knife and fork beside it, and bowls with boiled and fried food, as much as there was room for on them, and a large glass with red wine shone so that one's heart laughed. The young man thought, "You've had enough for the rest of your life," and went about the world in good spirits, not caring at all whether an inn was good or bad and whether there was anything in it or not. If it pleased him, then he did not stop at all, but in the field, in the forest, on a meadow, where he had desire, he took his table from the back, placed it before him and spoke: "Cover yourself". Already everything was there what his heart desired. At last it occurred to him, he wanted to return to his father. His anger would have subsided, and with the "little table cover thyself" he would gladly receive him again.

It happened that on his way home in the evening he came to an inn filled with guests: they welcomed him and invited him to sit down and eat with them. Otherwise, he would be hard pressed to get anything else. "No," answered the carpenter, "I will not take the few morsels from your mouths; rather you shall be my guests." They laughed and thought he was having fun with them. But he put his little wooden table in the middle of the room and said, "Table, set yourself." In a moment it was filled with food, as good as the innkeeper could have brought it, and the smell of which rose sweetly to the nostrils of the guests. "Help yourselves, dear friends," said the carpenter, and the guests, seeing how it was meant, did not ask twice, moved closer, drew their knives and grasped bravely. And what surprised them the most was that when a bowl was empty, a full one was immediately put in its place. The innkeeper stood in a corner and watched; he didn't know what to say, but he thought: "you could use such a cook in your inn. The carpenter and his company were merry until late at night. Finally, however, they lay down to sleep, and the young journeyman also went to bed and put his wishing table against the wall.

But the innkeeper's thoughts did not leave him alone, and he remembered that there was an old table in his junk room that looked exactly like this. He very gently fetched it and exchanged it for the wishing table. The next morning, the carpenter paid his sleeping money, packed up his table, didn't even think about having the wrong one, and went his way. At noon he arrived at his father's, who received him with great joy. "Well, my dear son, what have you learned?" he said to him. "Father, I have become a carpenter." "A good trade," replied the old man, "but what did you bring back from your wanderings?" Father, the best thing I brought back is the little table." The tailor looked at it from all sides and said "you haven't made a masterpiece on it, it's an old and bad little table. "But it is a "table set you," replied the son, "if I put it down and tell him it should be set, there will be the most beautiful dishes on it right away, and a wine with it that will gladden the heart. Invite all your relatives and friends, and let them feast and refresh themselves, for this little table will fill them all." When the company was gathered, he placed his little table in the middle of the room and said, "Set the table." But the little table did not move and remained as empty as another table that does not understand the language.

Then the poor journeyman realized that the table had been switched for him, and he was ashamed that he was standing there like a liar. The relatives, however, laughed at him and had to go home again without having eaten and drunk. The father fetched his rags again and went away to tailor. The son, however, went to work for a master.

The second son had come to a miller and was apprenticed to him. When he had completed his years, the master said: "Because you have done so well, I will give you a donkey of a special kind; it does not pull the cart or carry sacks. What good is he then?" asked the young journeyman. "He spits gold," answered the miller. "If you put him on a cloth and speak 'Bricklebrit,' the good beast will spew you gold pieces, back and front." "That is a fine thing," said the journeyman, thanked the master, and went out into the world. When he needed gold, he only had to say "Bricklebrit" to his donkey, and it rained gold pieces, and he had no further trouble than to pick them up from the earth. Wherever he went, the best was good enough for him, and the more expensive the better, for he always had a full bag. When he had looked around the world for a while, he thought "you must go and see your father. If you come with the gold ass, he will forget his anger and receive you well." It happened that he came to the same inn where his brother's table had been exchanged. He led his donkey by the hand and the innkeeper wanted to take the animal from him - and tie it up. But the young journeyman said: "Don't bother, I'll lead my gray horse into the stable myself and tie it up myself, because I have to know where it is. This seemed strange to the innkeeper, who thought that someone who had to look after his donkey himself would not have much to eat. But when the stranger reached into his pocket, took out two gold pieces and said he should just buy something good for him, he was wide-eyed, ran and looked for the best he could find. After the meal, the guest asked what he owed. The innkeeper wanted to take the opportunity and asked for a few more gold pieces.

The journeyman reached into his pocket, but his gold had just run out. "Wait a moment, landlord," he said, "I'll just go and get some gold," but he took the tablecloth with him. The innkeeper did not know what this meant. Being curious, he crept after him, and since the guest had locked the stable door, he looked through a knot hole. The stranger spread the cloth under the donkey, called "Bricklebrit", and immediately the animal began to spit gold from behind and in front, so that it rained down neatly on the ground. "Ei der tausend," said the innkeeper, "there are the ducats easily minted! Such a purse is not bad!" The guest paid his bill and went to sleep, but the innkeeper crept down to the stable during the night, led the mintmaster away, and tied another donkey in his place. The next morning the journeyman left with his donkey, thinking he had his gold donkey. At noon he arrived at his father's, who was pleased to see him again and gladly took him in. "What has become of you, my son?" asked the old man. "A miller, dear father," he replied. "What did you bring back from your wanderings?" "Nothing but a donkey." "There are donkeys enough here," said the father, "but I would have preferred a good goat." "Yes," replied the son, "but it's no ordinary donkey, it's a gold donkey: when I say 'Bricklebrit,' the good animal will spit you a whole cloth full of gold pieces. Only send for all your relatives, and I'll make them all rich people." "I'll put up with that," said the tailor, "then I won't have to bother with the needle any further," and he jumped away himself and called the relatives over. As soon as they were together, the miller made them make way, spread out his cloth, and brought the donkey into the parlor. "Now pay attention," he said, and called out "Bricklebrit." But there were no gold pieces what fell down, and it turned out that the animal did not understand anything of the art, because not every donkey brings it so far. Then the poor miller made a long face, saw that he had been cheated and asked the relatives for forgiveness - who went home as poor as they had come. Nothing was left, the old man had to reach for the needle again, and the boy had to earn his money with a miller.

The third brother was apprenticed to a wood turner. And because it is a craft rich in art, he had to learn the longest. But his brothers wrote him a letter telling him how badly they had fared and how the innkeeper had deprived them of their beautiful things on the very last evening. When the wood turner had finished his apprenticeship and was to go on a journey, his master, because he had done so well, gave him a sack and said: "There is a club in it. "I can put the sack on and it can serve me well. But, what is the cudgel doing in it? It only makes it heavy." "This I will tell thee," answered the master, "if any man hath done thee wrong, only say, 'Cudgel, out of the sack,' and the cudgel will leap out among the people, and dance so merrily on their backs that they cannot stir or move for eight days. And it won't let go until you say, "Stick, in the sack."

The journeyman thanked him, hung the sack around him, and if someone came too close and wanted to harm him, he said, "Cudgel, out of the sack," and immediately the cudgel jumped out and knocked off one after the other's skirt or doublet right onto their backs, and didn't wait until they had taken it off. And this happened so quickly that one overlooked it before it was even one's turn. The young turner arrived in the evening at the inn where his brothers had been cheated. He put his satchel on the table in front of him and began to tell what strange things he had seen in the world. "Yes," he said, "I suppose you can find a table set, a golden ass, and the like. All good things that I don't despise, but all that is nothing compared to the treasure that I have acquired and carry with me in my sack." The innkeeper pricked up his ears: "What on earth is that?" he thought, "the sack must be filled with precious stones. I should have that one too, for all good things come in threes." When bedtime came, the guest stretched out on the bench and put his sack underneath as a pillow. The innkeeper, thinking that the guest was in a deep sleep, went over, moved and pulled very gently and carefully on the sack to see if he could pull it away and put another one under it. The turner, however, had been waiting for a long time, and just as the innkeeper was about to give a hearty tug, he shouted, "Truncheon, out of the sack." Immediately the cudgel came out, hit the innkeeper on the body, treated him so hard that it cracked. The innkeeper screamed for mercy, but the louder he screamed, the harder the cudgel beat him on the back, until he finally fell to the ground exhausted. Then the turner said, "if you don't give the table and the gold donkey back, the dance shall begin again." "Oh no," cried the innkeeper meekly, "I will gladly give everything back, but let the accursed goblin crawl back into the sack." Then the journeyman said, "I will give you mercy for justice, but be careful!" Then he shouted, "Cudgel, into the sack!" and let him rest.

The turner went home to his father the next morning with the table and the gold donkey. The tailor was happy to see him again and asked him what he had learned in the foreign country. "Dear father," he answered, "I have become a wood turner." "An artful craft," said the father. What did you bring back from your wanderings?" "A precious piece, dear father," replied the son. "A club in the sack." "What!" cried the father, "a cudgel! That should have been worth the trouble? You can chop it off any tree." "But not such a one, dear father: if I say "cudgel, out of the sack", the cudgel jumps out and does a bad dance with the one who does not mean well with me. And does not let up until he lies on the ground and asks for good weather. You see, with this cudgel I have brought back the table and the gold donkey, which the thieving landlord had taken from my brothers. Now call them both and invite all the relatives, I will feed and water them and fill their pockets with gold." The old tailor did not really want to trust him, but nevertheless brought the relatives together. Then the turner covered a cloth in the parlor, brought in the gold ass, and said to his brother, "now, dear brother, speak to him."

The miller said: "Bricklebrit", and immediately the gold pieces jumped down on the cloth as if a downpour was coming. And the donkey did not stop until they all had so much that they could carry no more. Then the wood turner fetched the little table and said, "dear brother, now speak to him." And no sooner had the carpenter said, "Set the table," than it was laid and abundantly set with the most beautiful dishes. There was a meal such as the good tailor had never experienced in his house, and the whole family stayed together until night. And they were all merry and happy. The tailor locked up his needle and thread, his elbow and iron in a cupboard and lived with his three sons in joy and glory.
But where did the goat go that was to blame for the tailor chasing away his three sons? I will tell you. She was ashamed that she had a bald head, ran into a fox's den and hid herself in it. When the fox came home, a pair of big eyes sparkled at him from the darkness, so that he was frightened and ran away again. The bear met him, and seeing that the fox looked quite disturbed, he said, "what is the matter with you, brother fox, what face are you making?" "Ah," answered the red one, "a fierce beast is sitting in my den, and has been gazing at me with fiery eyes." "We will soon drive that out," said the Bear, and went along to the cave and looked in; but when he saw the fiery eyes, fear seized him also. He wanted to have nothing to do with the fierce animal and took to his heels. The bee met him. And since she noticed that he was not comfortable in his skin, she spoke: "Bear, you make a mighty morose face, where is your merriment gone?" "You can talk," answered the bear. "There is a fierce beast with googly eyes in the Red's house, and we cannot chase it out." The bee said, "I feel sorry for you, bear, I am a poor weak creature that you don't look at on the way, but I still think I can help you." She flew into the fox's den, sat on the goat's smooth shorn head, and stung her so violently that she jumped up, cried "meh! meh!", and ran like mad into the world; and no one knows to this day where she ran.